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Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems

We’ve taken a strong stance on e-cigarettes as part of our tobacco-free workplace requirements. Despite the fact that they do not contain tobacco, and therefore the adverse health effects of e-cigarettes are not yet proven (unlike the well-documented adverse health effects of tobacco products), they will explicitly not be permitted at Gold Standard workplaces. E-cigarettes are flavored vaporizing devices that provide nicotine dosing, which means they can lead to nicotine addiction.

Some people argue that e-cigarettes could be effective in helping people stop smoking tobacco products. However, they are not regulated by the FDA, are often produced outside the U.S., and they contain a range of additional substances that are being studied for toxicity for their users and for others nearby. Therefore, e-cigarettes are not proven to be safe as a tobacco-cessation aid.

In addition, e-cigarette manufacturers are aggressively marketing these products, and there is significant concern that e-cigarettes could make smoking overall more socially acceptable as well as serving as an introduction to smoking regular cigarettes.

Finally, because other Electronic Nicotine Delivery Devices (ENDs) are now entering the marketplace as well, all of those devices are also prohibited at Gold Standard workplaces. Other ENDs may not look like electronic cigarettes, but they similarly deliver nicotine into the user.

This snapshot of U.S. e-cigarette regulation was prepared by the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium at the Public Health Law Center, and the Public Health and Tobacco Policy Center. The information is based on a survey of current state statutes (plus Washington, D.C.) pertaining to e-cigarettes in the following areas: definition of “tobacco product,” taxation, product packaging, youth access/other retail restrictions, and smoke-free air legislation. Some links go to legislative websites because the laws have not yet been codified or are not otherwise available.

Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working tirelessly to investigate the distressing incidents of severe respiratory illness associated with use of vaping products.

Heated tobacco products heat processed tobacco leaf to create an aerosol, which users inhale into their lungs. Some brands of heated tobacco products permitted for sale in the United States include IQOS and Eclipse.